A Boohbah Party
A Boohbah Party was a part of a birthday party feature on the PBS Parents section of the PBS Kids website telling parents and caregivers how to plan a party based on one out of many PBS Kids shows, such as Arthur, Dragon Tales, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Teletubbies, Boohbah, It's a Big Big World, and Cyberchase. The Boohbah party area focused solely on movement-related activities and largely healthy foods, tying in with the show's message on staying fit and getting exercise. Food The foods featured on the website, as mentioned in the introduction (above), were mostly healthy, with popcorn and candy being reserved for the Cake and Healthy Snack Mix recipes. Most of the food relied on the Boohbahs' colors (yellow, pink, blue, orange, and purple) to add brightness and variety to those supplied by PBS Parents, while the mixes used colors similar to or either related or unrelated to the show. Cake The cake was meant to be shaped like a Boohbah, with the majority of ingredients supplied used to make it both healthy and good-tasting. What You'll Need * Two 9" round cake layers (PBS Parents suggest using applesauce to make the cake healthier where possible) * 5 to 6 cups of white frosting * 4 ice cream cones * 4 wooden skewers * 6 gummy worms * Food coloring (yellow (Humbah), pink (Jingbah), blue (Jumbah), orange (Zing Zing Zingbah), or purple (Zumbah)) * Candy pearls * Edible glitter * Candy eyes * 9" round cardboard circle * Serrated knife * Paring knife * Decorator's bag with coupler and #1 Round tip * Metal spatula How to Make It * Color icing for the Boohbah you want to make (on the PBS Parents website, the selections were placed here; on here, they are above this space). * Cut layers into Boohbah shape using template. * Stack second layer on top. * Trim edges to round off cake using paring knife. * Spread a thin layer of frosting over entire cake. * Add more icing to head and smooth, create peak at top of head using more icing. * Using piping bag and round tip #1, squeeze hard to produce curly string effect. * Pipe curly string using a zig-zag motion over body of your Boohbah, add a second layer of piping to build up collar and stomach. * Cut ice cream cones down using a serrated knife and then cover with a thin layer of icing. * Trim gummy worms for feet using head end of worm and attach to wooden skewer. * Trim the tails from the gummy worms and attach 3 pieces together for each hand and attach to wooden skewer. * Thread skewer through leg or arm, press cone into cake and then press skewer into cake until foot or hand meets cone. * Add candy eyes to head. * Place candy pearls over eyes. * Place white candy pearls on stomach. * Sprinkle edible glitter over stomach. Gelatin molds Using sugar-free gelatin the colors of the Boohbahs (lemon: Humbah, strawberry-kiwi: Jingbah, blueberry: Jumbah, orange: Zing Zing Zingbah, and grape: Zumbah) and a fruit cocktail, people could make their own Boohbah gelatin molds. Mixes There were two food mixes supplied on PBS Parents; a Healthy Snack Mix featuring light popcorn, sunflower seeds, and raisins, and a Fruit Mix featuring fresh-cut frozen oranges, grapes, pineapples, peaches, and bananas on toothpicks, the latter of which is eerily similar to Sprout Diner's ShiskaBoohbahs recipe. 100% fruit juice ice pops These were traditional ice pops added in as part of the party food. Boohbah Smoothies Using fruit like bananas and assorted berries, people could make their own smoothies. PBS Parents suggest using the Boohbahs' colors to make the smoothies "even more fun". Activities The following activities were listed on the PBS Parents website: Groove to Your Own Move In this activity, while listening to music, one person does a certain movement, calls someone else up to do the same move, and so on until the entire group is called up and doing the same move. PBS Parents suggest that one encourage the players to be silly, remind other participants that they are welcome to adapt the moves they see to their own physical abilities, and ask each player to alternate large-motor and fine-motor movements. Improvisation Handing the participants a small prop (like the Storypeople do in the Storyworld segments), one is meant to tell them that they will be handed the prop and required to come up with a different explanation about what the prop is, encouraging them to use their imagination. Dance Imitates Life One is prepared with a list of items for the participants to imitate using dance, encouraging them to look around at the others' interpretations of the item, provide general silliness, and invite others to make suggestions for the next item for the participants to imitate. Another way this activity could go is that while in a pair, one person moves and their partner narrates the process. They can also switch roles, time allowing. Dot Drawing Providing the participants pieces of paper, a drawing utensil, and a stick-on dot, one lets them stick their dots on the paper provided and draw a picture that appropriately incorporates the dot (having them use the same color and size dot is permitted). After they are done, they can let the participants share their drawings either at once, letting the people they are showing it to glance across the room, or have each one come up one at a time and share what their drawing is of. Storyteller This activity lets people make their own Storyworld stories by using Storypeople paper dolls, having one invite them up to make a story, and share it with a group or partner. Printables Planning the party * Invitations - Meant to let people know they are invited to the party * Guest list - Used to count down everyone coming and the gift they will give the (birthday) person * Thank-you cards - Meant to give to everyone coming thanking them for coming * Scrapbook - This sheet of paper lets the person who the party is for fill in the blanks about the day, time, and place their birthday was held at, their favorite memories, and the friends that came. * Award certificate - Meant to give to everyone attending the party Favors * Boohbah bookmarks - Bookmarks with each Boohbah and their name on them; can be printable in either color or black-and-white * Paper dolls - Paper dolls of all five Boohbahs and all eight Storyworld characters; the latter are to be used during the Storyteller activity * Spiral cut-outs * Photo frame - Meant for someone to put their favorite party picture in, tape it to the back to let it show through, and put on a refrigerator using either a magnet or clear tape Decorations * Placemat and hat, both with the Boohbahs on them * Wall decorations of all five Boohbahs; can be either printed in color or black-and-white Availability The PBS Parents Boohbah party ideas, as well as the other four initial party ideas, were launched in 2005. At the same time, the other four were Arthur, Clifford, Cyberchase, and Teletubbies. The party idea section expanded to include Dragon Tales and Curious George in 2006 and It's a Big Big World in 2007. Super Why! and The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! would later replace the former and latter in 2010. The Ragdoll/PBS party ideas were removed from the site in 2012. These factors can be justified in multiple ways; the shows had massive hatedoms, and as such prevented them from checking out the ideas available, which many people who did like the shows did. Additionally, the